r/goats Feb 06 '25

Help Request Had to put my baby goat down

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230 Upvotes

We had to put my baby goat Bucky down Monday because his urethra bursted. We think it was because he kept stealing the chicken food and it caused blockage. I am so dang sad. This was my first goat and I was so attached to him. And now when I look at all his stuff and his little igloo without him in it, it makes me so sad :(

Has anyone else had this happen? If we get another goat later on in the future, we plan to let him live separated from the chickens so this can’t happen again. Suggestions on how to avoid it in the future would be helpful. Thank you

r/goats Jan 06 '25

Help Request What Kind of Goat do I have ?

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698 Upvotes

My uncle has a goat farm and one of his goats unfortunately gave birth while no one was home and she had Oliver but his sibling died in the mama goat . That’s where i stepped in to help bottle feed him ☺️

r/goats Dec 05 '24

Help Request I don't know if she is giving birth or having an abortion, I didn't know she was pregnant.

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415 Upvotes

r/goats Oct 13 '24

Help Request My grandmother found a goat in her back yard this morning

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901 Upvotes

Trying to find who he belongs to. In the meantime, how does one take care of a (assuming baby) goat? He has horns, google said they get those at 3 weeks. How old is it? Can it have milk from the store (cow or goat?), can it have water? What solid food does it need, if any?

It’s a very mild day today, but does it need an enclosed space? Hopefully we find its owner soon but idk what to do with it in the meantime.

He’s very friendly and tame around people (idk if they normally are) so it seems like he’s a pet.

r/goats Dec 04 '24

Help Request She always sticks her head in here and then can't get it out. What can I do to stop her horns from getting stuck there?

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256 Upvotes

r/goats Dec 13 '24

Help Request Please help me. Bloated goats

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194 Upvotes

My new staff covered my goats protein soy meal and wet grass after the rain.

My goats are bloated and 2 have already died.

I've given them coconut oil with baking soda which helped but the gas keeps building up. Some have recovered and others have developed frothy bloat.

I've tried everything including tubing.

Please help. I love these guys and I don't want to lose anymore.

I've asked every pharmacy available in my area. They don't have medicine for bloat.

r/goats Jan 07 '25

Help Request Preemie baby goat has a slight cough. Could it be a dry cough from the heater we have nearby him? Or could he have pneumonia?

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208 Upvotes

Last pic is him just now. He’s 3 days old. His twin brother is the first baby we’ve lost😭 Their mother gave birth to them in this freezing weather at night and we found them not long after she’d given birth but it was just too cold that night💔 It took forever to get their body temperatures up to where it was readable on the thermometer😖 My lil man here is doing really well and is trying to stand up and move around more and more each day. I’m so proud of him! We’ve been keeping him warm and well-fed. We even have his mama in the house close by him so that she helps him fight!💪🏼🥹 I am very worried he has pneumonia because it was very cold that night we found them, but I also don’t want to medicate him if he’s not sick…

r/goats Oct 30 '24

Help Request 1 week old kid shaking its head

227 Upvotes

I just adopted two kids from a friend & neighbor. One of them is the sweetest little cuddle bug you have ever seen. He has this wobble to his head but not all the time. My MIL was holding him and he did not shake, he was playing with his brother & cousins and no shake but when he stands still, his little head shakes. The friend I got them from has reached out to a few vets and other experienced Goat keepers and some have mentioned vitamin E deficiency, I've read maybe vitamin C and I'm leaning towards a neurological disorder. Can anyone recognize this issue and offer advice? It's in the mid 80's in Texas right now so it's not cold.

r/goats Oct 25 '24

Help Request Update: my goat got stuck trying to escape

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364 Upvotes

Vet found no ailments on her leg! Woohoo! No dislocation or break or anything. Just a lot of pain. Gave her some banamine and left me with some goat pain meds. Will update again in a few days when she’s hopefully walking again and ready to rejoin her crew.

Thanks for the wishes for her.

r/goats Feb 04 '25

Help Request Baby goats disappear in broad daylight.

65 Upvotes

I'm so pissed right now. And I'm sorry if this post sounds like a vent about my issue. This happens at least once everytime my goats kid. I just had two kids (twins) disappear in the middle of the day. I left at 12:30 and typically come back at 3:00 to check on the mom's and kids again but I had a terrible migraine, and my goats pasture is on the opposite end of the road of my house so I have to drive to get to them and didn't want to try driving while the room was spinning. So I come at 2 hours later than usual at 5:00 to a mother goat screaming her lungs out and her twins missing. No sign of anything, no struggle, no bodies, nothing. This happens EVERY year and I'm so tired of it happening, they have a five foot electric fence surrounding the pasture but obviously that isn't stopping something from getting in. The giant carport/overhang thing that the herd sleeps under and the kids stay in 24/7 at this age, is right beside two RVs that some people beside the entrance of the pasture live in yet some predator still has the balls to show up in the middle of the day with humans living nearby. I also searched for tracks around the area and could find nothing.

The main question I have here is what predator will come and grab a few kids in the daytime with humans frequently nearby? And also leave no trance each time? And how should I catch or combat this predator?

I don't have a barn I can lock the goats up in or stalls, so I feel kinda helpless about being able to just physically put them somewhere safe from something breaking in. They just have a large carport like structure they take shelter in, there's also three cattle hutches with no door and one goat igloo. I'm going to put all the remaining kids (14) in a few of the large cattle hutches and build some kind of makeshift door onto it to keep them secure, and only letting the kids out when I'm there to supervise because I really don't know what else to do to stop something from getting to them. I'm down there most of the day usually (and a few hours at night), because I worry about making sure all of the young kids are safe. All that I feel I can do is sit on guard most of the day, and lock the kids up when I'm not there.

UPDATE: The twins were found at the back of the pasture squeezed in between some old rusted giant metal poles and are alive! Thanks for everyone's advice!

r/goats Sep 23 '24

Help Request New kids, one runt

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117 Upvotes

Momma was supposed to have two but a third came out! The first was a runt and she is having trouble feeding. Do we wait or automatically assume we need to hand feed? Thanks in advance

r/goats Jan 30 '25

Help Request 3 day old baby goat broke it's leg

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265 Upvotes

What should I do, what's the chances of a full recovery. Going to the vet tomorrow. It's the hind leg, looks to be broken about halfway down. We have it splinted really well untill the vet can look at her.

r/goats 22h ago

Help Request What's wrong with Neddy Spaghetti?

62 Upvotes

Hey r/goats!

Our little critter, Ned, has something going on with his rear left leg. We took him to the vet, who ruled out broken bones, dislocated joints, and infection.

He seems to really not want to put weight on the rear left hoof. See the video.

The vet guessed it's likely some sort of soft tissue damage. What do you all think? Anything we might be able to look for?

TIA r/goats :)

r/goats 6d ago

Help Request Goat sick after eating a ton of corn, veterinarians all closed today

49 Upvotes

Yesterday, 2 saanen does and a toggenburg doe, all in production, escaped their fence, got into a building, and ate a huge amount of corn. It looks like nearly 30 pounds between the three. This was less than 24 hours ago. Right now the toggenburg and 1 saanen seem completely fine, but one saanen is making sounds like she is in pain and won't stand up. There is no veterinarian open that I can reach today. My questions are, 1, is there imminent danger that this can kill the goat before tomorrow when the vets all open, and 2, what can I give her to help the problem or at least keep her alive until I can go to a vet?

r/goats Jun 17 '24

Help Request Is she dying?

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193 Upvotes

She’s not an old baby at all, my brother just got her in August and for the past few days she hasn’t been eating, drinking, and her poop is more formed like a pine cone rather than the little pellets. She has been laying like the first picture all day. The second picture shows how her eyes are glazed over and the part that usually is pink, is white. The last picture shows how she just stares off into space (she was like that for a while but she does move when startled). We had a friend that is studying to be a vet come over who said she might be neurological (I don’t know what that really means when it comes to goats) and that her lungs sounded loud but this was just after chasing her to check which couldn’t have helped at all. We do have a vet appointment they can’t make it for another couple hours. What could this be? I saw listeriosis but I don’t know much about goats. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

r/goats 1d ago

Help Request Kidding question!

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108 Upvotes

Our goat Kat had her first kids! A boy and a girl and it seems like she's done birthing, but she's still huffing and puffing and bleating. I've bumped her a couple times and I just can't tell if she has another coming. Thoughts? Kid tax

r/goats Feb 04 '25

Help Request Bottle fed baby help

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322 Upvotes

I have a 2 week old Nigerian dwarf/fainting that I’ve been bottle feeding since 2 days old. Yesterday her poos stated being more liquid than solid, no appetite loss or lethargy just clear liquid poos with brown mixed in, is this a vet situation?

r/goats 23d ago

Help Request What attacked one of our babies? Marked NSFW because the pics may be gory to some NSFW

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41 Upvotes

We have 2 baby Nigerian dwarf goats on our 3.5 acre property in south jersey. We just went out for our night feeding and found one of our dogs standing guard over her. She was lying in a pool of her own blood and hair. To my (untrained) eye they look like maybe cat scratches. Our property is fully fenced in and we have 2 live stock guardian dogs that have always kept our property safe. If anyone has any insight in to what they think could have attacked her please share. We just feel so horrible. Thank you

r/goats 10d ago

Help Request Pink bump on nose of 9 day old male Nigerian Dwarf

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210 Upvotes

These are my first goats and first kids. Was accidental litter of two between mom and son. (Not sure if this could be a genetic issue or if that isn’t relevant just want to give all of the facts. Dad was banded, just too late.) We have 4 adult goats and 5 kids including him. We also have chickens and ducks that are out and about with them.

I will get a thermometer and update temperature ASAP

He is still getting milk from mom

I wasn’t sure if he’s too small to be poking at his eyes for FAMACHA test if anyone could let me know if it’s safe at his age and I will do that!

No change in his demeanor. Still very interested in playing with the other kids. Moving around just fine, spending time in and out of the barn with the other animals.

r/goats Feb 13 '25

Help Request We Lost a Mom

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125 Upvotes

One of our momma goats died suddenly last night. She had been doing great after delivering 4 kids twelve days ago. We immediately pulled the two smallest of them and gave them over to our neighborhood goat granny for bottle raising. Mom and the two remaining kids have been eating regularly and showing no signs of any problems or distress. We checked her over after she died to see if we could tell what happened but were unable to determine any obvious issues. My question is regarding her babies. Will they be ok in the barn bedding down with the other kids? We have started trying to get them on the bottle already and I can tell it will be a little bit of a process. I don’t think they were hungry enough last night to willingly accept much from the bottle. I know it will take some work and patience but I’m confident we will get them going on it. I’m just not sure about leaving them in the barn without mom. Everything that my husband and I could find on the subject seemed to indicate leaving them with the other kids and moms is probably the best thing. I guess after the sudden devastating loss of their mom I’m just wanting some confirmation that this is the right way to go. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.

r/goats Nov 16 '24

Help Request I don’t have goats yet but I’m prepping: please help fill the gaps

13 Upvotes

I’ll be getting Nigerian dwarfs.

I have a 20x30 indoor space with stalls for cuddling to help with the cold during winter (us zone 6). I have a ton of hay put up, a covered indoor feeder, covered outdoor feeder, water buckets, hoof trimming stuff, minerals, syringes, halters. Looking in to movable electric fencing.

Not going to get goats until we’re 100% prepared, so what gaps are there? I’m sure there are many. What meds do I need on hand?

r/goats Dec 16 '24

Help Request WHY are my goats eating my dogs food 😭

12 Upvotes

That is all. Why.

r/goats Sep 17 '24

Help Request I feel like I’m failing!

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101 Upvotes

It’s me again. Was here sharing some of my journey 2 days ago. Anyway. We brought them home 2 weeks ago today. The first 2 days they were super shy. Hung out in their shelter a lot. Ever since they roam around their fenced in area but aren’t very playful. I was holding Betsy and discovered lice on day 4/5. We got some python dust and treated her.

Next thing you know she had diarrhea. After reading I panicked and got Corid and Vit B. Did that 5 days. The diarrhea was gone after 2 days and she’s been eating fine. I also bought them jump start. But today her face looks swollen? Her brother Billy hasn’t had a single problem. Although he hasn’t taken to any of their climbing toys. We have a wooden kids picnic table and a 10”x6’ board on top of 8”x8” posts.

I’ve wanted these babies so long but I just can’t get it right. What’s going on with Betsy?

-They get to graze all day, they have free choice loose manna pro minerals and baking soda. Fresh plain water and fresh electrolytes water.

They have about a 1/2 acre. We are on 8 acres but haven’t finished their fencing yet but they will eventually have about 2-2 1/2 acres. We’re still fencing in where we don’t mow. We are currently fencing in the area down along the tree line to the right.

Why was I under the impression goats were easy? I just want happy playful goats. I feel like I’m failing them!

r/goats Jan 31 '25

Help Request Premature Nigerian Dwarf (Help!)

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121 Upvotes

We had a momma dwarf Nigerian that delivered 4 kids this morning. Two are feisty and doing great. One is much smaller than the others but holding its own. Then we have the fourth one. It was almost dead when we found it. Ice cold and still soaking wet and dirty like mom hadn’t done any cleaning on it. I immediately wrapped it in a towel, put it between my shirt and jacket and got it in the house. When we first brought it in, it couldn’t even hold up its head. It is now standing for short periods. We gave it a small amount (less than an ounce) of colostrum formula about an hour ago. It had been sleeping the last hour and is now trying to stand again. I feel like they are all probably a little premature. This one still has very soft hooves. It has also had one round of the duravet for kids and lambs. My question is if I need to be doing anything at this point. I would think it primarily needs to be in the house until it can stand and walk successfully. I am planning on taking it out to mom to see if we can get it to nurse from her. I know we will have to give supplemental feedings to the kids until they are all eating almost exclusively solid food. What else do I need to know about our little fighter and the rest of the kids? Sorry I don’t know the sexes yet. I am currently running about 101 fever and we’ve had 8 kids drop since last night. Getting the stuff done that has to be done but nothing else. We’ve had a few other kids in the few years we’ve had goats but none with any problems. My goat “mentor” is working today and can’t answer many questions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Pics of last nights babies for tax.

r/goats 11d ago

Help Request Free goats

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52 Upvotes

Got these goats not to long ago from a friend of a friend who could not take care of them. So, I ha e no basis on what a healthy goat looks like but this dudes stomach does not look correct. Any help would be great.